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I’ll Say Whatever The ... I Want

In America, we relish the fact that we have the right to say whatever we want.

But in some states, there are exceptions to that rule.

Even in this day and age, there are state laws that make it illegal to use profane language in public, but there are laws beyond that including laws that dictate where you can use certain language and even who you can encourage to use such language.

For example, 36-year-old Wesley Force Jr. was arrested for public cursing.

The incident occurred earlier this year when Force got into a disagreement with the manager of AutoZone. The police were called out to the store and asked Force to stop cursing.

When Force refused and said to the officers, “I’ll say whatever the f--- I want,” he was arrested and taken to jail.

Force was released shortly thereafter without bond and appeared in court in March, where he plead guilty to the charge of using profanity and abusive language. The law falls under the New Bern code “Profanity and boisterous conduct,” which became local ordinance in 1971.

Force was sentenced to 10 days of electronic monitoring in lieu of jail time. Really? Was there a recorder??

Watch Where You Run Your Mouth

In Sarasota, Florida, a city ordinance makes it illegal to use foul language in the presence of minors. In 2007, 45-year-old Christopher Haupt was arrested for having an open alcoholic container in a public park.

During his arrest, Haupt began shouting obscenities in the presence of children at the park. Officers asked him to stop but he continued on in the same language. It is reported the man was charged with profanity addressed to a child in addition to the open container charge.

In 2012, a Minnesota man was arrested by police after neighbors complained that he was mowing his lawn wearing only a loin cloth and was shouting obscenities.

Not really suitable for a person who lives near a daycare center.

When officers arrived in response to the complaints, 43-year-old Matthew Swanson continued his verbal assault on the officers, landing him quickly in handcuffs.

The same man had been cited in the past for making harassing phone calls to the Fergus Falls Police Department and using inappropriate language.

See a pattern of patterns?

Don’t Ask Others To Say The Wrong Thing… Especially Children

You can also get into trouble for getting someone else to say obscene things, especially when that someone else is an 8-year-old child…and you put it on video tape….and upload it to YouTube.

In 2010, Josh Eastman, a 24-year-old of Bridgeport, Connecticut, reportedly paid his 8-year-old neighbor $1 to say obscene things on camera, which Eastman later uploaded to YouTube. The boy was encouraged to use swear words and racial slurs while holding a garden hose.

Eastman was arrested for impairing the morals of a child and posted a $2,500 bail bond.

While we do enjoy a lot of freedom in what we say in this country, there are still places where you have to be careful about what comes out of your mouth.

So, before you decide to unload some fiery rants peppered with some unsavory word choices around others, you should check to make sure you are not in a city or state that will throw the book at you for it.